Bert Neumann

In 1994 Bert Neumann put OST, in radiant blue letters, on the roof of the Volksbühne at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. Designed by Neumann and LSD, OST is the theatre’s own kind of brand. The object emerged as a counter-point to the »Test the West« slogan that was omnipresent at the time, as both a battle against and a refusal to subscribe to the aesthetics and programming of the so-called »West«. This means that OST is more than just a geographic location, it’s a mental attitude as well. OST became, in addition to Neumann’s RAD on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, the symbolic landmark of both the Volksbühne and the original way of working adopted by the artists at the theatre during Frank Castorf’s tenure as artistic director from 1992 to 2017.